International Partnerships

About our work

Bikes Not Bombs partners with organizations using the bicycle to drive social change in their communities.

We work in solidarity with our international partners, supporting them to lead the change process in their communities to address their core social justice and environmental issues. Our partners provide life saving health services, turn bicycles into pedal-powered machines, organize communities rallying to stop climate change, run bike libraries lending bikes to high school students, and distribute thousands of refurbished bikes that provide affordable and sustainable mobility. Although our partnerships are diverse, they are united through the concrete use of bicycles to further social change.

Since 1984, Bikes Not Bombs has shipped over 70,000 bicycles to partners in 14 countries in the Global South. Bicycles are comprehensive development tools that further the self-determined development of people by providing access to the goods and services needed to pursue their own development and the development of their families and communities. Bicycles increase a community’s access to economic opportunity, education, health care, and civic engagement. Bicycles not only support sustainable livelihoods, they build local economies, reduce carbon emissions and support broader movements for social justice and environmental sustainability.

Each of our international partners are unique, and have developed out of a very specific need in their communities for bicycle-based development, yet all reflect and resonate the greater mission of Bikes Not Bombs through their community-based and locally-owned programming, forming an international network of organizations using bicycles for social change in their communities.

Our Model

We believe our model of partnership is unique in a number of ways. We partner with independent organizations run by members of the communities they benefit. Our partners have first hand knowledge about the needs of their communities and we help them to harness local power to provide solutions.

At Bikes Not Bombs we not only ship bikes, we collaborate with partners, share strategies, facilitate capacity building, build our network and connect partners with resources. By investing in the skills and capacity of our international partners, increasing their overall autonomy and independence, Bikes Not Bombs grows the impact made by each donated bicycle, while growing the movement of bicycle organizations changing the world.

Through our partnerships we are building an international network of social justice oriented bicycle organizations. We are able to leverage our connections in this network to help increase the capacity and impact of our partners, while sharing resources and strategies amongst a diverse group of constituents.

The bicycle is simply a vehicle for social change, it is our partners who decide where it will take them.

CESTA, the El Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology, is leading the struggle for environmental conservation, sustainable transportation and community-led resource management in El Salvador. CESTA combines an array of environmental and social programs with environmental and social justice activism, positioning CESTA at the forefront of social change in El Salvador.More...

A network of cyclists and bicycle shops in Nairobi, Kenya that is working to grow the bicycle industry of Kenya, to create employment for young people and to build the critical mass of cyclists to organize for policy and infrastructure change.
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Learn Work Develop (LWD) is a nonprofit established in 2013 by a of group of grassroots activists in Rwanda, the Volunteers for Effective Work and Sustainable Employment (VESE), who wanted to contribute to national programs around youth employment and productivity, by focusing mostly on education, life skills development and job creation for youth, in particular for young girls and women.More...

Village Bicycle Project brings bicycles to the most rural areas of Ghana and Sierra Leone and organizes village-based workshops at which people can purchase bicycles at subsidized costs and receive training in basic bicycle maintenance.More...

After attending the 3rd World Bicycle Forum in Curitiba, Brazil in February 2014, Bikes Not Bombs became an active member of the coordinating and organizing team for the 4th World Bicycle Forum which took place in Medellin, Colombia in February 2015.More...

Our Hub is closed through March 31st, 2019, as we work to #UniteUnderOneRoof! Please bring any bike donations to our Bike Shop during regular business hours. We will keep you updated here and on social media with our progress! We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience as we prepare to share our new space in the future!

Bikes Not Bombs was founded in 1984 and is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit.All donations are tax deductible.